tensegrity and complex systems theory

hold onto to your hats this will blow your socks off i have been extensively studying the oriental practice of medicine from the ayurdevic to TCM and everything in between.

i would like to share some of the findings and discoveries i have made. this is only an attempt to consolidate the practical application of tensigrity and the complex system theory.

first tensegrity is the harmonic balance of a three dimensional matrix with tension and compression elements based off the theory of synergetics it has been applied with great results to architectural feats such as the geodesic dome and the birds nest (olympic stadium) at the beijing olympic games ect ect

complex systems theory is the mathematics that describes natural phenomena, apparant random events that happen in natural phenomena that is not explainable with newtonian mathematics was described as chaotic and gave rise to the chaos theory and quantum mechanics. mathematicians who studied natural phenomenas noticed that these random acts of nature had patterns that could be explained by alternative mathematical theories.

complex systems theory is comprised of a fractal patterns which means the same patterns repeating themselves over and over and over.

An example is if you draw a square and two triangles at the opposing sides then draw a line from the apex of the triangles to the opposite corners of the opposite side of the square you have a hexagram if you continue and draw lines from the opposite corners of the square to the other opposite corner of the square you then have a pentagram. if you have a close look at the original shape it is transformed into a 3 dimensional platonic solid a tetrahedron two pyramids joined at the base.
if you repeat this process with other squares adjacent with the opposing triangles the pattern changes again leading to other platonic solids such as the cube, the octahedron, the dodecahedron or the icosahedron (soccer ball).

the point is patterns on patterns change the image what we see.

the oriental culture was based off this natural mathematics from centuries of observation of the universe and mother nature at work and used these principles to design their architecture art and medicine.

the application of these natural mathematics resonated the truth behind TCM.

to understand TCM, acupuncture and meridians you must understand complex system theory at work and tensegrity.

i have designed the tensegrity man which demonstrates the accuracy of the TCM principles. It also demonstrates the accuracy of the ayurdevic principles as well this should be no surprise as TCM was based off buddism daoism and confucism. buddism spread its roots 1500 years ago through india first and china later so these cultures share the common aspect of medicinal practices that was common to buddism.
It accurately demonstrates the major fascial planes of the body which will help with understaning how one part of the body relates to another.

to create the tensegrity man you must first draw the tetrahedron from one square and two opposing triangles (the base shape) the same way mentioned above
then draw adjacent tetrahedrons above and below with the side of the triangles adjacent to each other you should have two tetrahedrons on the same level adjacent to each other on the same plane and one tetrahedron on the next level and then two tetrahedrons on the level below. draw one more tetrahedron above the first level between the two tetrahedrons of the first level and now you should have the form of the head, the thorax, the abdomen and the pelvis.

the arms and legs are added with three tetrahedrons apex to apex and you have the tetrahedron man

the the exciting part if you have lines drawn to represent the pentagram within the base shape you will see patterns emerging between the tetrahedrons. the first level will look like an octagon on its circumference with a diamond in the middle the diamond is the part of a cube if you follow the lines that join the next diamond below and form the cube which is represented as the earth element situated in the lower torso the circumferential octagon represents the element air the next shape between the two levels of adjacent tetrahedrons is the square remember this was our starting base shape and forms the original tetrahedron and x marks the middle spot is the representation of fire element, the hara of japenese acupuncture the diantian of TCM. the inferior adjacent tetrahedron is similar to the first level however has the bottom traingle missing you can make out the shape of the icosahedron (soccerball shape) here this represents the water element. i am still working out the dodecahedron the universal shape i will discuss at a later time when i figure it out.

Next you will notice 7 nodal points in the middle where multiple lines intersect which relate to the 7 chakra's represented in indian philosophy.

the final aspect is the tree of life, which is the basic functional shape of living organisms. the shape is comprised of the 5 bottom nodal points. go back to the original base shape the orignal tetrahedron you drew trace the square to highlight it and make the 4 outside corners with dots and the centre point the X intersection of the square highlight the lower triangles to the central nodal paints of intersection this will look like an upside down house within a pyramid facing down. next follow the superior triangle of the original base shape and trace the diamond that is part of this nodal point. the start is the bottom of the diamond and the adjacent corners are the x intersection point of the two adjacent squares of the tetrahedron shapes of the first level. then draw a line from these points down in line witht he original square of the original base shape. the shape wil look like two pyramids balancing the point of the first on the base of the second. this shape is the tree of life and represents the Fibonacci numbers i wont go into this at the moment

now the final thing to do is trace the spiral patterns that emerge and you have the basis of the meridian system.

the second level of the tensegrity man is the drawing of multiple tetrahedrons within each tetrahedron of this first level tensegrity man this equates to 4 tetrahedrons wide within in each of the tetrahedrons orininally drawn.

i know this quite a mouthful but it is complex but if you work this out it will change your outlook completely about the design of the human body and you will understand TCM more thoroughly as well as the application of fascial manipulation.

cheers and good luck

Hi Mulberry,

I am interested to know what you are talking about...however, there ain't no way i can draw that thing you describe.

Can you draw it for us, scan or take a photo and post it here please?

Thanks

Dear Alophysio

I understand your bafflement.

For more information on biotensegrity go to Biotensegrity - a new way of understanding anatomy

It's a model that could explain a lot.... for example, how and why a scoliosis develops and/or how and why elastic tape (Kinesio, MTC ) works.


Very interesting stuff.
Combined with what we are learning about the fascia FasciaResearch.de it might answer so many questions.

regards

Esther

Hi Esther - tensegrity is not a new concept...it has been around for quite a while...what i wanted mulberry to post is a picture of his model so i don't have to fumble around and try to draw what i think he wants me to :)